LT Experience: Summer Abroad and Summer Internship

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Summers are an awesome time to try new experiences and progress your degree forward! Whether that is studying abroad, doing research, taking some classes, or completing an internship, it is the perfect amount of time to do something new. This past summer I had the opportunity to check two of those things off my list – I spent the first two weeks studying abroad in Sweden and spent the next 11 weeks at an internship with a pharmaceutical company!
Taken from a bridge overlooking Stockholm!
Going to Sweden for two weeks was eye-opening. Not only was I able to experience a completely different culture than back here in the U.S., my program specifically dealt with topics regarding environmental sustainability. Throughout my time, I had the chance to tour a wastewater treatment plant, a waste-to-energy plant, a paperboard company, Parliament, an iron ore mine, the Ice Hotel and even spent an evening with reindeer! Through all of my experiences, I was able to understand different strategies that both governments and corporations can look to incorporate here in the U.S. that could help combat many negative aspects of climate change. Outside of the set itinerary, we had time in the evenings to explore the various cities that we were staying in. While we spent the most time in Stockholm, we actually ended up in five cities all across the country. After my few weeks in Sweden, I definitely have a new appreciation for the world that we live in both culturally and environmentally!
Around 36 hours after I returned to the U.S., I was participating in orientation for my summer internship. As I mentioned earlier, I worked for a pharmaceutical company as a part of their Operations Internship program. More specifically, I was the quality intern for a packaging manufacturing site. I had the opportunity to work on three major projects throughout the course of the summer that both enhanced my technical understanding of how a manufacturing plant operates as well as improved my professional skills. My three projects were related to project management, supplier management and process improvement. I worked on everything from change plans to tracking data in excel and even had the opportunity to lead a team towards a desired goal! The best part of my internship was the balance between understanding my specific functional area and having the opportunity to learn, cross-functionally, with interns who worked in other parts of the business.
Overall, my summer was packed full with learning opportunities - personally, professionally and culturally. Having varied experiences is super important and much easier to do when you are at Purdue. Make sure to take advantage of the resources that Purdue has to offer, so that you may use every minute of your four years here to better yourself!
- Madeleine Hollinger, Chemical Engineering '21 WE Link Leadership Team
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Email: welink@purdue.edu

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Purdue Women in Engineering

Comments

  1. Kat FrangosNovember 11, 2019 at 4:42 PM

    I wholeheartedly agree on the value of studying abroad... I had the opportunity to spend a semester in Shanghai, China through Purdue's ME program and it was absolutely a life-changing experience. Now I'm back abroad studying in Edinburgh, Scotland for my Master's degree in Sustainable Energy Systems... highly recommend study abroad experiences during education! (BSME, 2014)

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